MARKET PULSE-Quiksilver, Hillshire Brands, Spherix, Advanced Energy

Reuters Staff

6 Min Read

(For more market insights, including options activity, click on ; for the Day Ahead newsletter link.reuters.com/mex49s; for the Morning News Call newsletter, link.reuters.com/nex49s) U.S. stock index futures were a touch lower on Tuesday as traders found few reasons to buy with major indexes at record levels, though the market's recent upward momentum appeared intact. Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 0.23 percent at 16,683, S&P 500 futures were down 0.27 percent at 1,916.7 and Nasdaq 100 futures were down 0.32 percent at 3,715.5.

** QUIKSILVER INC, Monday close $5.79, -38.00 pct premarket

The apparel and accessories retailer reported a bigger quarterly loss, hurt by lower wholesale sales in North America and Europe.

** PILGRIM'S PRIDE CORP, Monday close $25.92

** HILLSHIRE BRANDS CO, Monday close $53.57, +7.99 pct premarket

** TYSON FOODS INC, Monday close $43.4

Pilgrim's Pride Corp, the second largest U.S. chicken processor, raised its offer for Hillshire Brands, escalating a bidding war with Tyson Foods for the maker of Jimmy Dean sausages.

** KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUTS INC, Monday close $19

The company cut its full-year adjusted earnings forecast as recent management changes and technology upgrade weigh on costs, and reported lower-than-expected revenue for the first quarter.

** SPHERIX INC, Monday close $1.81, +12.15 pct premarket

The intellectual property development company said it completed a $20 million financing. The funding is expected to help the company meet its contractual obligations for the remainder of 2014 and help fund growth.

The real estate investment trust said on Monday that it planned to sell shares in a public offering. The company intends to use the proceeds to fund pending and future property acquisitions, repay debt and for other general corporate purposes.

Needham & Co cut its rating on the power company to "hold" from "buy" after the company said late on Monday that Chief Executive Gerry Rogerson would step down. "We are surprised by the timimg of the announcement and are concerned that this news would impact AE's business," analyst Edwin Mok wrote in a note.

** KKR & Co L.P, Monday close $22.90

The private equity firm has agreed to buy website operator Internet Brands Inc from Hellman & Friedman and JMI Equity for $1.1 billion in a bid to help the company expand its services, the New York Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. (r.reuters.com/myv79v)

Element Financial Corp has agreed to buy PHH's auto fleet leasing business for about $1.4 billion in cash, and will issue $1.1 billion in capital to pay for the deal, the two companies said on Monday.

** YANDEX NV, Monday close $31.67

The Russian internet group may expand the limit of its share buyback program, following which it may consider paying dividends for the first time, Chief Financial Officer Alexander Shulgin said on Tuesday.

** NEWMONT MINING CORP, Monday close $22.58

The miner has stopped copper output at its Batu Hijau mine in Indonesia, a company statement said on Tuesday, adding that the results of government talks this week would dictate the status of employees.

** CHENIERE ENERGY, Monday close $68.5

A 20-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) sale-and-purchase agreement between Cheniere Energy and Gas Natural Fenosa announced on Monday is worth $13 billion, a source with knowledge of the deal said. The two companies did not disclose the value of the agreement when they made it public earlier on Monday.

** GENERAL MOTORS CO, Monday close $34.86

At least 74 people have died in General Motors cars in accidents with some key similarities to those that GM has linked to 13 deaths involving defective ignition switches, a Reuters analysis of government fatal-crash data has determined. Such accidents also occurred at a higher rate in the GM cars than in top competitors' models, the analysis showed.

** HYATT HOTELS CORP, Monday close $61.34

Chicago-based Hyatt Hotels has signed an agreement to manage Melco Crown (Philippines) Resorts Corp's City of Dreams hotel in Manila's newest gaming hub, the two firms said on Tuesday. The two groups did not disclose any financial details of the agreement.

** INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORP, Monday close $185.69

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has completed its probe on how the company reports revenue from its cloud computing business and does not intend to recommend any enforcement action, the company said.

** NAUTILUS INC, Monday close $10.76

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday vacated an appeals court decision in a fight between the exercise equipment maker and Biosig Instruments over heart rate monitors.

** SUNEDISON INC, Monday close $19.58

The solar panel maker said it entered into an agreement with Chinese solar company Huantai Group to develop solar projects for the Chinese market. The companies expect to build up to 1.7 gigawatt of solar projects in China over the next five years, SunEdison said on Tuesday.

** FIRST SOLAR INC, Monday close $62.7

The solar company said it would acquire Skytron-energy, a unit of AEG Power Solutions. Skytron-energy provides utility-scale solar power plant management systems, data monitoring technology and equipment to solar power plants in Europe.

** LIMELIGHT NETWORKS INC, Monday close $2.32

** AKAMAI TECHNOLOGIES INC, Monday close $54.36

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday ruled in favor of Limelight Networks over claims by Akamai Technologies that it infringed patented technology for managing Web images and video

Compiled By Shubhankar Chakravorty in Bangalore; Editing by
Sriraj Kalluvila